i'm a mom now, and the most important thing is that i'm healthy. join me. join for free. weight watchers. because it works. >> steve: where did the three hours go? going to do three more tomorrow. >> brian: i could tell you every minute. "fox & friends" after the show show coming up. it's the same show, but on-line. we wear our hair differently. >> gretchen: have a great day. bill: all right. good morning, everyone. we'll start with a fox news alert. there are massive protests yet again against american interests spreading around the globe. the newest outbreak is in southeast asia. this is the video just in to "america's newsroom.". so this is the theme now in indonesia, one. most populous muslim nations in the world. protesters burning the american flag outside the us consulate in one of the largest cities in indonesia. protesters chanting among

other things, go to hell america. brand new hour. i'm bill hemmer. welcome to "america's newsroom.". we missed you yesterday. martha: thank you. i'm martha maccallum. al qaeda in africa calling for more protests and attacks on u.s. diplomats. this is the scene in kashmir. protesters clashing violently in the streets between india and pakistan. bill: a lot more where that comes from. david piper streams live out of bangkok with more. david, hello. >> reporter: hi, bill, yes. it has taken a few days for it to kick off here in southeast asia as you said. violent protests in indonesia today. there was also a major protest here in thailand. 400 muslim demonstrators went outside u.s. embassy a short distance here. the group calling themselves the international kuds federation. we do understand there was a

heavy police presence and security is tighter in all the u.s. embassy and consulates in this region. more so in the philippines today. there was a massive protest by muslims in the south of the country. they were also burning american and israeli flags during that demonstration. and over in lebanon today the, the leader of the shiite militant group hezbollah called for sustained protests across the world. sheikh hasan nasrallah, the head of hezbollah most group, called for the protests to be sustained at this time, bill. bill: thank you, david piper leading coverage at bangkok, thailand. back there when we get more. martha: meantime violence continues in afghanistan. a deadly homicide bombing rocking kabul. terrorists claim responsibility. a woman was behind the wheel.

the bomber ram ad car packed with explosives into a minibus. look at the scene on the road here. it was carrying foreign workers, this bus to the airport. they think at least 12 people are dead. there are concerns that number could rise. we understand the majority killed were from south africa. this attack comes after nato cuts back operations with afghan forces after a series of brutal and fatal attacks. bill: back with that throughout the morning. meantime a headline on the trail. governor romney reacting to a video that hit the internet last night at a donors event months ago. saying this about the president's supporters. >> there are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. there are 47% who are with him, dependent on government. who believe they're victims. who believes the government has responsibility to care for them. who believe they're entitled to health care, to food, to housing you name it, but that is entitlement.

government should give it to them. and they will vote for this president no matter what. bill: so now the republican presidential nominee standing by what he said. he came out in california backed that up. whoever released tape would release the entire recording for context. >> it is not elegantly stated let me put it that way. speaking off-the-cuff in response to a question and i'm sure i could state it more clearly in a more effective way than i did in a setting like that. and so, i will, i'm sure i will point that out as time goes on but we don't even have to question, given the snippet there, nor the full response, i hope the person who has the video would put out the full, the full material. bill: so in a moment here we'll have a closer look at this about the campaign strategy as governor romney just telling the truth? fair and balanced debate with a terrific team only moments away, martha. martha: vice-presidential candidates trading attacks on number one priority for americans which of course is the economy.

first joe biden slamming governor romney's job plan while campaigning in the swing state of iowa. he claims it outsources american jobs to countries like china. here is what he said. >> now what the experts point out that we'll create jobs, 800,000 jobs, all of them overseas. all of them in china. all of them in vietnam. and we're being lectured by this guy about getting tough on china? ladies and gentlemen, it's laughable. it's laughable. bill: so then paul ryan firing back during a trip to the battleground state of iowa. ryan says the obama administration has failed on the economy, saying that more government intervention will only make things worse. >> sooner or later when the boar rowing runs out or when we can't borrow like we have those empty promises become broken promises. that is what europe is involved in right now. they're in a debt crisis.

they're slashing benefits for retirees right now, cranking up tax rates. young people have no opportunities. that's the future will will have if we don't get this situation under control. bill: that from iowa. joe biden heads to the same state today. paul ryan will head to new hampshire and virginia later. iowa has six electoral votes and they're getting all kinds of attention and lets you know how every single vote counts in the election. martha: crowd in iowa. many states will enjoy that kind of attention as we go through the process. bombshell senate report highlighting serious abuses we want to tell you. errors in how the social security administration doles out disability benefits that report, found more than a quarter of those benefits should never have been awarded. according to one estimate the average lifetime disability award gets sent out, $300,000. and this is why this report matters. last year some 10.6 million people received more than

$128 billion in disability insurance payments. everybody wants them to go to the right people. the problem it looks like a quarter of them are going to people who don't deserve them or do not need them. stuart varney joins me right now, anchor of "varney & company" on the fox business network. this is a tom coburn-led report. he has always been at the forefront seeking out waste in government spending. >> this delivers as you said, martha, a financial bombshell. it is an 18-month study and it found that the funds which administer this disability program, they are teetering on financial bankruptcy. that is a financial bomb shell. to get disability, social security disability you're supposed to be unable to work any job in the national economy. well the coburn study found that a quarter of those getting benefits are not legit. they're not legitimate claims. the report faulted administrative judges that don't properly review the medical evidence. they give to many immediate

decisions without a hearing. and they found one ad membership straight tiff judge who in three years handed out $1.6 billion worth of lifetime benefits. he approved virtually every claim that came before him. this matters financially because in the last 3 1/2 years we have signed up an extra 3 1/2 million people for disability, about a million a year. the fear is, martha, that disability, legitimate program, is being gamed. that it is no longer a social security disability fund that is paying to people who really can not work but it is paying out to people who can not find a job and they are gaming the system. big deal. martha: obviously that's the problem with every entitlement that has been created. when it starts to run into this kind of fraud and abuse and we hear a lot about cracking down on it. we almost never see it. that is why we see numbers increasing so dramatically. remind you when you see numbers on disability on the food stamp issue as well. >> yes. bill: there is a huge rise

of number of people tapping into the program during the obama administration, that is a fact right? >> 10 of that million people on disability. 3 1/2 million, own a third, just signed up in the last 3 1/2 years. it is a change the way we look at and use the disability program. martha: real quick, stuart, if you can, these judges what is being done to follow up. social security says that is a problem these judges rubberstamping these benefits. the social security administration spokesperson said they share the concern about administrative judges. they need to speed up reforms to get further improvement. that is their statement in response to this report. martha: we'll see what comes of that. stuart, thank you so much. stuart varney, see you soon. bill: right about nine minutes past the hour. martha, we mentioned this recorded moment of governor romney speaking frankly with reporters. is this a big deal or does the governor make a good point about the growing government dole in america? we will debate all of that and play a little more. fair and balanced right here.

martha: the massive chicago teachers strike keeps dragging on this morning. there may be no school for hundreds of thousands of kids for yet another week. bill: what a headache that is for parents too. two of the nation's top military mds sounding the alarm on many looking defense cuts and what those cuts could do to america's security around the world. >> we need to be honest with the president, with the congress, with the american people and with ourselves about what those consequences are. that a smaller, less ready, led modernized military will be able to go fewer places and be able to do fewer things

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bill: so this recording that caused a bit of a media firestorm, governor mitt romney saying almost half the voters in america depend on the government in a check and those voters are in the president's corner, not his. the. >> the president starts off

with 48, 49, he starts off with a huge number. these are people who pay no income tax. 47% of americans pay no income tax. so our message of low taxes doesn't connect. he will be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich. that is what they sell every four years and so my job is not to worry about those people. bill: those comments recorded four months ago in florida. democrats pouncing on it but the governor standing by what he said at an impromptu news conference last night. >> this is ultimately a question about direction for the country. do you believe in a government centered society that provides more and more benefits, or do you believe instead in a free enterprise society where people are able to pursue their dreams. i believe the latter will help more people get good jobs. this is campaign fundamentally how to help the middle class in america and how to bring people out of poverty into the middle class. we've seen the results of the last three, four years, and it has not worked.

bill: what about all this now? doug schoen, fox news contributor, former advisor to bill clinton. doug, good morning to you. >> good morning. bill: from "the national review", john fund. how big of a deal? >> it will be a big deal because the media will change it up dramatically. i think it will was enormous base driver. democrats will remind everyone in their base, mitt romney dissed them, called them victims. this impact will be shown up probably weekend before the election. bill: doug? >> i have to disagree with my friend john. i think with 61% of those who are not paying income tax, paying payroll tax at 15%, which is higher than the rate governor romney pays and another 22% receiving benefits as seniors, these are not victims. these are hard-working decent americans and for the governor to see america in two worlds and to not

recognize that we are one people who are aspirational and stier to up lift ourselves, i think is profoundly wrong, bad on the merits, bad politics and profoundly misreads people's aspiration. bill: what he went on to explain last night the question as he recalls it deals with process of campaign where voters are aligned right now. to the larger point about those getting government assistance, what we find, 49% of the americans lived in a household where someone was receiving benefits from at least one federal program. 32 million households had at least one person receiving a means-tested government benefit. the poverty rate in the u.s. increased for five straight years. the numbers of americans on food stamps has nearly tripled over the last decade. those are telling numbers, are they not, john? >> yes. look, mitt romney can say something that is true but also politically stupid. this was politically stupid. you don't want to divide people into two camps. that is why i think he is,

the obama people will use this to try to drive their base to the polls, saying mitt romney dissed you. i do believe that on a fundamental issue we do have a problem in this country because if we end up having more people in the wagon of the economy than people pulling the wagon of the economy that creates a problem. that's where we end up with european social democracy. that is when the economy starts slowing down and stop being able to meet the aspirational standards doug is talking about. bill: doug. >> i agree with what john is saying. the problem on both sides neither obama or romney is talking about what john was referencing how do we lit people up. i think it is right, reasonable and important for our society to offer more benefits during tough times. but the question is not can we offer more benefits but how do we lift people up, all people. you don't divide people and don't do it on class base if you're governor romney and you don't do it as president obama has done just tax the

rich. it will solve our problems. bill: this news cycle lasts about 90 minutes and something else pops up. >> this one i don't think will go away. bill: why? >> because it is so divisive and so blunt and frankly so hurtful. >> what he is arguing 6 to 10% of the people haven't made up their mind is the one who decide the election. that is larger point he was making. >> there is larger that that. when you have 6% undecided there is another 10% so-called decided but leaning that can move. bottom line when you divide people as bluntly as he did i think you do damage to your cause. bill: john, give you the last word on that? >> you certainly can't swing too many undecided voters but you can convince people the candidate who made this kind of statement, can, somebody you have to turn out and vote against. this could drive upturnout. bill: john, thank you. doug thanks to you as well. >> gentlemen. bill: 18 past. here's martha. martha:. it is a school morning today

but 350,000 chicago students are still not able to be able to go to school. some of the highest paid teachers stay out on strike but are they about to get their way? bill: former secretary of defense, joint chiefs chair, blasting lawmakers asking for a adult in the room in washington saying massive budget cuts will endanger soldiers and marines fighting overseas and will put us at risk at home. >> lest anyone forget there is still a war going on in afghanistan. in short, contrary to popular concession -- perception, the defense budget has already been cut and substantially. bill: there is more to that from robert gates. why he says it is time for the adults to make a decision that's one smart board. what else does it do, reverse gravity? [ laughs ] [ laughs ] [ whooshing ]

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bill: all right. 22 minutes past the hour right now some top stories. european union and iranian representatives set to meet today to talk about iran's nuclear program amid new concerns tehran is getting closer to building a nuclear bomb. california science center get as i approval to chop down hundreds of trees along the route the space shuttle endeavour will take to its new home. they agreed to plant four times as many in its place. shaun white was charged with possible intoxication after an incident at a nashville hotel. the champ reportedly broke a phone, pulled a fire alarm and fought with a hotel guest. martha: that is not good. his trademark red curely locks back for that picture. bill: left a little bit after shiner buyneath the left eye. martha: great guy. let's go to chicago now

where the teachers in the nation's third largest school district is are expected to vote on a deal that could end their one week and one day strike that kept 350,000 chicago students out of school. this as mayor rahm emanuel pushed for a court injunction some say came too late that would order teachers back to work. steve brown on the story live for us in chicago. steve, they had a tentative deal was the report on sunday. then no vote. why do we think this could indeed happen today? >> reporter: well, given that the public anticipation here in chicago is that there's going to be a vote and teachers will have to say something about this deal sooner rather than later the belief today, keep in mind the president of the union, karen lewis said this is the normal process. they just need a couple of days to work this out. we understand there are quite a lot less visible striking teachers yesterday in regards to their protesting and demonstrating because a lot of, yesterday was spent sitting down and

talking about this deal, going through it, line by line. although we are told that some of these teachers reviewing the deal are still only dealing with summary, not necessarily the entire contract or all of the contract language, martha. martha: we are hearing some details about what might be in there. how does it look like this would end up for the teachers if indeed they signed this deal? >> it we become aware there is difference of opinion amongst delegates and amongst teachers. it kind of goes along these lines. that there are some teachers who say, hey, this is as good as we're going to get, the longer the strike goes the sentiment will start breaking against us publicly and we should take the deal that is on the table for now. and then there are others who don't like specifically the longer school day and a lack of compensation to balance for the school day. keep in mind that there is an hour added to the school day here to make it over seven hours universally here in the city of chicago where it was not before.

that is something that mayor rahm emanuel was pushing for and teachers think they need to be compensated on a percentage basis for additional hour and they haven't got enit. there is a difference of opinion. how big we do not know. the delegates will be gathering here at another union hall to debate that. there was two hours of debate. we anticipate there will be at least that much today. martha. martha: a lot of discussion how the teachers are evaluated and recourse they might have in all this. steve, we'll check you back in with you later. bill: all about the students. martha: all about the kids. bill: could have worked it out in june, july, august. had to wait until school started. martha: yeah. bill: more on that. serious questions about events leading up to the death of four americans in libya including one of our leading ambassadors. what the obama administration is saying about the attack that does not jibe with the reports on the ground.

we'll check that out. martha: paying tribute to the border patrol agent whose murder is linked to a botched government running operation. what is being done now to honor brian terry. >> wanted to my son that night. something bad happened out there that night. i know something bad happened. i have more of a gut feeling more than they're telling [ female announcer ] gross -- i'll tell you what's really gross: used dishcloths. they can have a history that they drag around with them. for a cleaner way to clean try bounty extra soft. in this lab demo, one sheet of bounty extra soft leaves this surface 3 times cleaner than a dishcloth. it's super durable too. it's the cleaner way to clean. bring it with bounty extra soft. in the pink pack. and try bounty napkins. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first.

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bill: here we go on a fox news alert now. there is news breaking in

mexico. about 130 inmates escaping from a prison there. this is near the texas border. mexico's government saying that the prisoners escaped through a tunnel. police units and mexican army convoys searching for them at the moment. not entirely clear what crimes these prisoners committed but we're told some are drug-related, related to drug trafficking. mexico drug gangs frequently try to break their members out of prison. more on this story as we get it. martha: back to this big story now. the obama administration is still standing by the account of a quote, spontaneous deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in libya. despite claims from sources on the ground and libyan government that assault was absolutely a planned attack. here is u.s. ambassador susan rice. >> the best information and the best assessment we have today is that in fact this was not a preplanned, premeditated attack. that what happened initially

was there was a spontaneous reaction to what had just transpired in cairo, as a consequence of the video that, people gathered outside the embassy and then it grew very violent. those with extremist ties joined the fray and came with heavy weapons which unfortunately are quite common in post-revolutionary libya and that then spun out of control. martha: well that clearly just not jibe with everything else we're hearing from the president of libya onward. john bolton joins me now, former u.n. ambassador and fox news contributor. good to have you here. >> good morning, martha. glad to be with you. martha: sort of parsing these words but it does matter in terms of understanding what's going on in the middle east in these capitals and in these major cities because the report was there was no significant demonstration going on outside that consulate area in benghazi. so she is making it sound if

the extremists who were heavily armed came in and joined a ongoing big demonstration that got whipped into a frenzy and led to this attack. >> right. well, obviously there's still a lot of facts to be learned. we don't know everything yet but there is one group of people who are not at all confused by what happened and those are the people who attacked consulate and killed four americans. they know what they planned and what they did. even worse than that, as tragic as this is, is the signal that it is sending to al qaeda and terrorists and extremists all around the region, which is, that we did not have adequate security for our ambassador to libya. we didn't have adequate security for our embassy in cairo on september the 11th. and that official americans and private americans are vulnerable. tunisia is a good example. when they couldn't really take over the embassy they storm ad school across the street. they couldn't get the hard target. so they went after a soft target. i think this is very

serious. the idea that the state department put out last friday that they are not going to talk about what happened in benghazi anymore is just wrong. americans have a right to know what the security situation is for our people in the middle east. martha: and in many ways it goes back to sort of how you look at what's going on. whether or not there is an ongoing war on terror. whether or not the attacks that had happened, similar, smaller things in benghazi, should have triggered a higher sense of security in those buildings? >> well, there was either an intelligence failure, both in libya and in egypt, although different circumstances, or, as you suggest, the administration has viewed the environment as so benign that they weren't worried. that is consistent with the president's argument that the war on terror is basically over. general motors is a i life, usama bin laden is dead. we now have the tragedy of four dead americans that give the lie that facile

line. i think it is something we need to focus on because the administration's world view has been sadly proven very wrong here. martha: should we expect sort of a more outspoken statement on all of this from the president? you look what is going on in southeast asia and tunisia and in so many of these countries and feels like it has been chalked up to this movie. no doubt the movie had some role in terms of whipping up a frenzy among some people in the streets but, does he need to address this more head on? >> yeah. but i think that contradicts another approach that he is taken ever since the famous cairo speech of 2009. if we're sort of engaged in a little sensitivity training for americans that everything will be fine in the region and that's simply not right. these extremists, religious and political beliefs have deep roots. their hatred for america and the west as a whole have deep roots. the pretext of the movie was

used as a propaganda tool. if you can'tget the chain of causation right what the problem is, obviously you can not formulate effective american policy to deal with it. right now after the statements initially following september the 11th we haven't heard anything from the president. i don't understand why hillary clinton honestly wasn't on the talk shows on sunday with all due respect to my successor susan rice. who is not exactly in the u.n. ambassador's wheelhouse. where was the secretary of state? by the way what are we doing now to impress on governments all over the world? we expect that our people will be protected. martha: good points on both. in terms of our ambassadors and staff in all of these countries we saw evacuations over the weekend in tunisia. should they feel safe? should they feel protected? should they feel if they're on the sail line with the folks in washington? >> well i think they have obviously got to be on high alert. we saw the government of the

sudan reject the deployment of a marine anti-terrorism team. that had, that resulted in our embassy there being dawn down to essential personnel. you have to look at it case-by-case but clearly the signal to the terrorists they can attacknd succeed against people outside the embassy compounds. so the risk for the official americans is high but i want to underline again, the risk for private american citizens is also high, and i think we've got a real obligation so that they know what the security situation is in the countries they're in. companies and families have to decide, do they want their employees and relatives over there? what steps are they going to take to provide for their security. we'll see more tragedies or hostage-takings or the like potentially all around the region. over a sustained period of time. demonstrations may go up, they may go down. you may have quiet days or weeks but this underlying problem remains. martha: thank you, ambassador. next to you we're looking at

images that we haven't seen so consistently in so many countries in so many years. the burning of flags in pakistan. peoples shoes on top of american flags on the ground in pakistan in these pictures. it is very disturbing. ambassador, thank you as always for being with us today. >> thank you, martha. bill: on a much different story, now breaking this morning, more on topless photos of kate middleton. a french court ordering a french magazine to hand over the topless photos, all of them of prince william's wife is the ruling a bit too little too late? amy kellogg is in london. what happens now, amy after this court ruling? >> reporter: hi, bill. a spokesman for the royal couple ish issued a statement that they welcome the injunction. this injunction, bill, means the pictures have to be handed over and can not be republished. this issue of the paup

razzie. find the rat not officially said to be a woman and criminal case out against her. what you talk about too little too late, the photos are all over the internet. closer magazine selling on ebay for multiple times the newsstand price. italian magazine yesterday, published a 26-page spread of these photographs under a screaming headline, the queen is naked. also an irish magazine published the pictures. these pictures are off the couple at an estate that was owned by a family member in the south of france. they're basically topless photographs that the italian magazine published one of kate lowering her bikini bottom so her husband can apply sunscreen. too little too late, but sending a signal to the press, this royal couple that they will not take it and stand by quietly if people invade their privacy. bill: what damage is the

french magazine responsible for if any? >> well, bill they have to pay a nominal fine. they have to pay for the couple's legal fees if they don't turn over the images within 24 hours, they will pay 10,000 euros which is about $12,000. if they break the injunction and publish or resell the photographs that is another 10,000 euros in every single instance. which don't know about the emotional damage it caused to the couple. they were on a very high-profile tour of asia when the pictures were published. in fact they were in kuala lumpur about to go to a mosque. kate was wearing a veil to be respectful of the customs. yesterday a lawyer for the couple in court said really he wanted the lawyers to put themselves, the judges to put themselves in the place of kate's husband, prince william. and her parents. and understand that she's not an object. she is a young woman. these photographs have caused a awful lot of distress. bill: thanks, amy kellogg, watching the story out of

london. we'll see the next step on that. martha. martha: there is a new effort to honor murdered border patrol agent brian terry as his family awaits a major report on the investigation into his death. what they just told fox news they hope to learn from that. bill: also there are stark warnings about the danger to america at home and overseas if these deep military budget cuts are allowed to take effect. listen. >> a nation with our current less of unsustainable debt being this far out of fiscal balance can not hope to sustain for very long its superiority from a military perspective or its influence in world affairs. jack, you're a little boring.

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fund. the fund was established in 1976 after the north slope oil was discovered. bill: we are hearing from two of the nation's top military minds slamming congress for failing to reach a budget agreement. former secretary of defense robert gates was not mincing words and former chairman of joint chiefs of staff michael mullen saying massive defense cuts at the end of this year could harm our national security. >> all of this will take place in a world of great and growing uncertainty. one only need look at the events of the last week even as some areas of the world grow increasingly dangerous and hostile to the united states. bill: words from secretary gates were even stronger. chuck nash, retired u.s. navy captain, fox news military analyst. captain, good morning to you and welcome back here. >> good morning. bill: what gates calls the cuts at the end of the december, mindless cuts set to take effect. what do you make of that?

>> essentially what we have congress before it adjourned set up a doomsday scenario only they told everybody. if we don't come to agreement on the cuts what will happen we'll blow the whole thing up, we'll blow up the world. it is akin to the cleavon little character in "blazing saddles", saying if you don't back off, he gets it. guess what? the guns to the head. they will let this thing counts down, go to zero and blow up. and so, it is one of those things you want it real bad and you will get it real bad. bill: what gates says after the election in november, i'm using his words now, whatever adults remain in the two political parties will make compromises necessary to put the country back in order. he is not messing around. >> no. and that's because if you just go into, here's the scenario. first off, there are not a lot of people in this town who are fans of the defense department's acquisition system, okay? it is a bloated bureaucracy.

it spends way too much money. programs run five, six years. we wind up spending twice as much for half as many assets because these programs go on and on and on forever. it is legendary. let's society that aside. we need to fix that part of the program. it has been cajoled. legislation written against it. wait out the transformers. did thing with rumsfeld, everybody. they wait you out. this thing, this financial pressure this is something that could be used as a forcing function to get this system under control by getting your hands around its throat. so there are certain group of people in town that are looking at that. there are three groups. the people on group a, who are saying, no, cut it, gut defense. we want to spend it on domestic programs. there's group b, that says, hey, use this financial thing as a forcing function but don't break the place, okay? just use it as a forcing function. then there is the other group, nope, business as

usual. we can't suffer a dime's worth of cuts. so what gates is saying is, get that group in the middle that's been trying to change the system and use that, use those cuts in targeted manner. bill: is that your resolution for you? >> yes, sir. use it as a targeted method to go after specific programs. in other words, cut this program. keep that one alive. cut this one. keep, cut. instead of coming across the top and mindlessly, as, former chairman of joint chiefs mullen said, mindlessly cutting everything from the top. bill: could you make the calls before december? or would you need an extension to do it right? >> you would need an extension and what i would also do is put in legislation that the department has one year to come back and give them a bogey. give them a bill they have to cut. do it in one year. so, yeah, you're going to eat it again for another year but at the end of that year, if you don't do it then, you're too stupid to

survive and we'll take the money anyway. bill: wow! you watch the events in the middle east and arab world. we don't even mention what is happening in asia at the moment with japan's ballistic system being set up there. maybe some hard feelings on behalf of beijing. who knows how that will turn out. one more thing that gates said. he said the history of past defense drawdowns are not encouraging. we almost never get it right? never? >> right. because there's no legislation that governs how much you have got to take down. but the other thing is, you always take down the thing that you think you don't need okay. what we can't do is jeopardize our men and women who are in the field fighting the current fight. you can't jeopardize that. so what, typically happens is, they protect favored programs and then they take the cuts on the manpower side. because, oh by the way, when these new programs, when they come in, they require less manning but what happens is they keep sliding to the right. therefore, fewer people are doing more work.

morale suffers. we never get it right because you can't predict the future. bill: these words from secretary gates really are telling too. chuck nash, thank you. we'll call on you again very soon. thank you, sir. >> my pleasure, bill. bill: martha's what's next? martha: a bombshell report that details possible justice department collaboration with a known media political group to spin stories favorable to the administration. we'll talk with the man behind that investigation. bill: al qaeda out with a threat to american interest only days after four americans including our top ambassador killed in libya. we're live at the state department for that headline moments away you've been busy for a dead man. after you jumped ship in bangkok, i thought i'd lost you. surfing is my life now. but who's going to .... tell the world that priceline has even faster, easier ways to save you money. . .

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bill: we mentioned this before the break. fox news alert. the u.s. embassy in tunisia remainsed closed today as

anti-american protests continue overseas. embassy officials ordering all nonessential staff members to leave the premises immediately. an al qaeda affiliated group applauds the deadly attack in libya. the white house appears to be softening some of its language about the libyan attacks. initially saying they grew out after massive spontaneous protest. we'll take you live to the white house a couple moments for more on that. martha: the family of murderered border patrol agent brian terry is gathering today in arizona as a border station is being named for him. it comes as a major hearing this week on botched gun-walking operation linked to terry's death. william la jeunesse joins us from arizona. first of all, what is happening today at that scene? >> reporter: martha that is one of the many small towns along the mechanic can border that predated before

arizona was even a state. it is a hotbed of activity even though not on many maps of human drug smuggling. this is where brian terry went to work every day. this station will be named in his honor. the tarp will come off only second time in border patrol history. last night in susan a event health for the brian terry foundation. 2 will provide scholarships for families whose agents are killed in the line of duty. he also received the congressional badge of bravery for the actions he took in the firefight with mexican cartels armed with assault rifles obtained through "operation fast and furious". that is the gun-running scandal embarrassed the obama administration and led to contempt charges or findings of contempt against attorney general eric holder. martha. martha: how about this investigation? we've been waiting for it for a long time. what are we expect to learn from that as it comes out? >> we expect the office of the inspector general report

basically number one name names. to assign responsibility and blame and recommend reforms. now the findings will be turned over to the department of justice, atf and u.s. attorney's office who can fire, demote or suspend the individuals that they believe had poor judgment and basically failed to provide oversight and protect the public in allowing those guns to go south. now the house oversight committee believes responsibility goes up to the highest levels of the justice department. the family, however, is hoping that it provides some closure. >> we have high expectations that the inspector general's report will detail the mistakes made. will fault the decision-makers that put this plan into place. that identifies the people in atf and the u.s. attorney's office in arizona and in the department of justice that approved this plan.

>> reporter: now we believe that this report, martha, could come out tomorrow and of course on thursday the inspector general michael horowitz will appear before the house oversight committee to explain and defend his report. back to you. martha: william, thank you very much. bill: what happened in libya? there may be a change in the story. we'll sort that outlive from the state department. hmm, it says here that cheerios helps lower cholesterol

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for extra plaque protection try new crest pro-health clinical rinse. martha: we start now with fox news alert on a new terror threat. al-qaida in north africa is now calling for more attacks on u.s. dip plea matter. they are praising the murder of ambassador chris stevens and three other americans who were killed in libya, brand-new hour starting right now in "america's newsroom." welcome back, everybody, i'm martha maccallum. >> i'm bill hemmer. we are hearing similar threats from al-qaida in yemen. the obama administration is starting to often its original thought of what was happening in

libya, explaining that the original situation may have been exploited by militants. martha: wendell what is the latest? >> the state department has closed the u.s. embassy in tunisia in light of the threats against u.s. diplomats. it remains unclear who was behind the attack in beng benghazi, who was involved. and whether they took advantage of an anti-is film, or used it as an excuse for the attack. susan rice had suggested the aeu attac attack was more spontaneous. but yesterday a spokesperson seemed reluctant to contradict the u.n. ambassador and offered little new information offering that an investigation is underway. >> the libyans are leading an

investigation. we have our own f.b.i. investigation, we also have close f.b.i. and libyan cooperation as we both pursue these, but i'm not going to get into the back and forth of who is arrested, what we think, what we know about any of this. >> reporter: meanwhile reaction to this anti-is film is complicating the end game in afghanistan with attacks against nato troops there being blamed on the film. u.s. officials have suspended joint operations withafter beg with afghan prop patrols and that complicates with call by 2018. martha: it's difficult to get a handle on exactly what took place. a former c.i.a. covert operations officer joins us with his analysis with the intel skwhrepbs gatherethe inch with the intelligence gathered so far. bill: they told fox's sean

hannity that the white house is hiding from reality. >> they don't want to admit it's a terrorist attack, his policies have failed. >> they he think this is weaker and just this afternoon we hear that the doj is now going to be investigating this incident. sean, these guys are -- >> doj? >> d. o.j. >> criminals. >> and we are preparing a criminal case for the courts? we are at war with us. bill: in addition congressman king questioning the lack of security at the the consulate. the british consulate had been shut down after an assassination attempt on the ambassador there back in june. martha: hundreds of students were taking to the streets in yemen's capitol city denouncing the film cited throughout the

protest and demanding that the u.s. ambassador there be expelled. they say they reject any military presents sens presence in yemen. bill: the pentagon now pulling u.s. soldiers out of joint operations in afghanistan, that applies to the soldiers and marines after dozens of nato troops were killed this here at the hands of our supposed allies. leon panetta says the deaths are not the sign -- >> i think what this indicates is that the taliban is resorting to efforts to try to strike at our forces, try to create chaos, but do not in anyway result in their regaining territory that has been lost pursuant to what

the isef and u.s. forces have been able to accomplish in terms of the transition. bill: steve centanni is live in d.c. what does it mean for nato and american forces and whether or not they'll be able to work alongside afghans? >> nato and the pentagon insist they will continue working together. the strategy really does not change. they say this move is only temporary, that large-scale operations will still be conducted on a joint basis and that some smaller operations can also involve teams of afghan and international troops working together. here is the explanation from isef, the international security assistance force. they say they've taken prudent but temporary measures to reduce our profile to civil disturbances to insider attacks. operational tempo has been reduced or forced protection has been increased. they are quick to stress the new policy only temporary, some

joint missions can still be carried out. they will be considered on a case-by-case basis and approved at the level of a two-star general or higher. this comes in response to a 40% spike in insider attacks. it followed a weekend that saw four american and two british troops killed by those attacks bill. bill: what could this mean, maybe it's too early to even answer this the overall goal there of training afghan forces and then withdrawing from that force stphes. >> it makes it a little more difficult. they say it should have no significant impact because training will continue and the larger operations will continue as well, but some critics, of course, don't agree with that. the whole idea of training the afghan army was a key to the plan nor withdrawing by 2014. one british lawmaker said today it could undermine the entire strategy in afghanistan, this new policy. a senior nato spokesman, said the new policy will apply only until the threat is at a

tolerable level. martha: the deadly insider attacks are unfortunately not isolated incidents. as of sunday there have been 36 of these kinds of a sults tha of assaults that resulted in 51 deaths. eight more nato soldiers have been killed in the past three days in these kinds of incidents. more on the situation in afghanistan, and what it all means coming up later this hour. bill: that trust factor that you must have in order to build up that force and make them cannable ocapable of policing. >> the taliban wearing u.s. uniforms. bill: we saw it in iraq. iran reportedly deploys a russian made submarine in the gulf. it was launched after the u.s. and others began naval exercises in nearby waters. iran's supreme leader says he

has no intention of invading other countries but he believes the armed forces should quote be upgraded in a way that no one is able to violate the reinforced fortress of iran, end quote. martha: secret emails uncovered in a daily caller information, they suggest that the justice department has been collaborating with a political media group on how to spin certain stories. what exactly is in those emails that have just been released through a investigation, we will speak to the man behind all that next. bill: a new legal battle for the unions in a critical swing state, that is wisconsin who is going to court now and why. we'll tell you. martha: a win for the royal family a judge ordering a french magazine to turn over topless photos of prince william's wife kate, but this case is far from over, coming up after this. >> i think it's an invasion of privacy rile. if someone is out on holiday and wants to lounge in the sun i

think it should be quite private, unless they are consulted to let them publish the pictures, then otherwise i think it's wrong.

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bill: brand-new housing numbers out now showing a bit of cough dense among home builders at its highest level in six years. national association of home builders sentiment index increased from 40 from 37 in august. that is the highest reading since june of 2006 just before the big bubble burst. any reading below 50 reveals negative sentiment. it rose to 51, up 8 from august the highest level since we've seen since june of 2006. martha: interesting story now, shocking allegations uncovered in an investigation by the daily caller website. and it reveals secret emails that reveal the justice department working closely with the leftist advocacy group, media matters to spin news

stories. let's tell you what we're talking about joined by tucker carlson the editor of the daly carol, a fox news contributor. tucker, basically you've got spokes people at the department of justice talking to spokes people and writers at media matters which is a tax-payer funded organization which is supposed to have a fair & balanced look really at the media and they are going back and forth in the emails talking about how to spin stories, right? >> they are watching a lot of fox news and reading "the daily caller." we put a request under the freedom of information act nine months ago for emails pertaining to us and emails between the director of public affairs at the justice department and media matters and nine months later, it's supposed to be 20 days we received a massive amount of these communications that indicate direct coordination between the obama justice department, eric holder's justice department and media matters to subvert news stories. we have one email in which the

writer from media matters emails someone at the justice department to say, i'm watching in fact this store. and i saw bill hemmer tee tease a story and how can we undermine it. this proves coordination. martha: it sounds like an independently-paid group that might help a media organization find information, but the crazy thing about this is as you point out is that the department of justice is taxpayer funded, media matters is taxpayer funded yet it appears they he have one motivation that the taxpayers are all collectively paying for and that is to sort of support one line of thinking. >> our reporter matt boil has p-pb working on the fast fast and breaking story for the better part of a year. he gets almost no cooperation from the justice department. and media matters which is a partisan hit group with tax exempt status is in moment to moment coordination with the

justice department. and this is a problem on a pretty basic level. the point of the public affairs office in a federal agency is to keep the public informed of what that agency is doing. the point is not to come up with new lines of pop grand toda of pop grand today ipropaganda. martha: we just did a story that showed that the border area that brian terry patrolled is being named after him. his family is still waiting for an investigation that will come up with answers as to what happened and all. this is very, very serious stuff. so if media matters were holding up what were supposed to be their mission they would want to make sure that everyone is being held to task in covering this story but it doesn't appear that there is an effort to do that. >> a lot of the things we call scandals in washington really aren't. this is. people died, a lot of people died, most of them mexican ales. in at least one days a border

patrol officer, brian terry as you said. you can see on our website we have the primary documents there, so you know we are not spinning this. it is purely and attempt to lie about the news. in one case we have the spokesman ther from the justice department e-mailing media matters, saying why don't you do a story and this. we are watching this on fox news and we don't like it. i'm sure they are watching this right now. martha: if they want to be an advocacy group i don't think anybody would pre grudge them thatbegrudge them that, but the problem is that their funding is taxpayer funding. >> in order to maintain that status you cannot be partisan, acting on behalf of a political party or advocating the election of a specific candidate and they are clearly violating those criteria, and i think the way to do it, i mean if congress and there has been talk of this were to examine their tax exempt

status i think they would find that they don't meet the qualifications. in nobody's world thu they be a tax exempt organization. martha: it's a very interesting investigation. tucker, thank you for laying it us for us. good to see you as always. bill: court -rg th courting the latino vote. how will and who will decide the election in november. how the candidates are courting that vote, a new fox news latino poll which issues matters to most hispanic, which candidate and do they believe they can deliver results. that will be coming up. martha: traveling faster than the speed of light, while it's no longer just for the crew of the enter prize, i event of the enter price. it can be you. >> space, the final frontier. these are the voyages of the starship enterprise, it's

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martha: over you'll the dow jones industrial is off a little bit but apple stock $700, first time they've ever hit $700 and that comes on the iphone 5 sale, 2 million of them sold in advance sales before the company even starts selling them in those beautiful apple stores all around the country. companies started taking orders for the iphone 5 last week. they say while most orders will be delivered on friday demand has so much exceeded the initial supply that they need to do a little bit of catch up and that means some of those devices will be delivered in october. it's the world's valuable company. 1.24trillion in cash last year. what an incredible american success story that company has

been. bill: i'm so happy with my iphone4, i skipped the 4s, i don't even know if i need a 5. i wish they would make those things in america though. martha: that would be nice. bill: talk about a jobs picture there. governor romney making an attempt to woo latino voters, promising to fix what he calls a broken immigration system and speaking about his own father's childhood in effects could he. >> i've spoken often about how proud i am of my father. he was born to american parents who were living in mexico. when he was five they left everything behind and started over again in the united states. my dad grew up poor, but he believed in a country where the circumstances of one's birth were not a barrier to achievement, a place where hard work could turn dreams into reality. he went from selling paint out of the trunk of his car to becoming the chief executive of a great car company and

ultimately to become the governor of the state of michigan. bill: that address from california, but we wanted to know what issues matter most to latino voters. this is a brand-new folks news latino poll, the economy and jobs are way ahead followed by healthcare, education, social issues like abortion and gay marriage. immigration near the bottom, so too is national security. what about all this. what does it mean? larry sabato ace the director of politics at the university of virginia. how are you doing, sir, good morning to you. >> i'm doing great, bill, hope you are too. bill: thank you. i'm doing just fine. i guess the economy and jobs are no shocker here, at 48% clear hraoet number onclearly the number one issue. >> i think it's the number one issue for all voters. the unemployment rate is higher for hispanics than a number of other demographic groups. the focus there was the right one for romney in that particular setting, the hispanic chamber of commerce.

bill: i think 11% is the unemployment rate nationally for latinos. if that number is right, then here is the next question we asked about improving the economy and creating jobs. president obama gets the clear nod at 59 to 33%. who do you trust handling immigration. again, 59 to 33%. why do they give president obama credit and not willing to go with governor romney on that. >> partisan identification among all groups has become powerful in this polarized era. there are two models. one successful, one not successful. the unsuccessful, bob dole and john mccain. the successful model george w. bush in for he got 40% of the hispanic vote. hispanics are growing every four

years. this year thet be between 8 and 10% of the entire election threat thaeven electorate that turns out. he's doing the right thing but belatedly in reaching out to hispanics. governor barbour has said in the past couple of days this is the number one priority for republicans going forward to crash the hispanic vote. bill: this is also what we found in our polling. president obama 60% to governor romney's 30%. the reason why i bring that up because in 2008 press got 67%. this number is low are for the moment. what would explain that, is it the jobs, economy? >> could be. i think that is a reasonable explanation. the overall polling average right now, though suggests almost a mere image of 2008, bill it's about the same percentage for both obama and for the republican nominee, mccain in 2008 and romney this

year, and romney has to change that. he simply has to change it if he's going to win 49 days from now. bill: he picked the right group, the hispanic chamber of commerce. would you expect more from that? >> that -- absolutely. they would be most receptive to a republican, first of all, because it means lower he regulation, lower taxes and the like, and if they were excited about what romney said they would communicate that to the broader hispanic community. so that is a good beginning, but it's only a beginning for romney. he's got a lot of progress to make between now and november 6th. bill: thank you, sir. larry sabato, university of virginia. to our viewers at home fox news latino.com you can see all the polling results of which there are a lot more to talk about too and they are online right now for you. martha. martha: the back and forth continues about what really happened last tuesday night in the streets of libya. we will speak to a former c.i.a. officer who says the white house's claim of a spontaneous

attack defies logic. >> it would be malpractice to not to have security at that consulate on september 11th in the middle of al-qaida territory when the american ambassador was coming there and also knowing that we did know there were large demonstrations planned for cairo, to me -- that is indefensible and that also has to be investigated. e v8 taste l. tomato, obviously. haha. there's more than that though, there's a kick to it. there's a pop. wahlalalalallala! pepper, but not pepper, i'm getting like, pep-pepper. it's kind of like drinking a food that's a drink, or a drink that's a food, zip zip zip zip zip! i'm literally getting zinged by the flavor. smooth, but crisp. velvety. kind of makes me feel like a dah zing yah woooooh! [ male announcer ] taste it and describe the indescribable. could've had a v8. woooo!

martha: extreme weather in tennessee from a powerful cold

front moving over the east coast. 6 inches of rain in central tennessee washed out roads, caused dangerous flash flooding as well. several drivers had to be rescued. more flood warnings were i shall i'd for parts of eastern tennessee. damaging winds and rain are possible from the mid-atlantic to the southern new england area. bill: about 10:31 right now. brand-new questions about what really happened on the night of that deadly attack on our consulate in benghazi libya. after conflicting accounts who libyan leaders who say it was preplanned and the obama administration claim it was not. >> we've heard a number of different things from libya. i would simply say that what the comments that ambassador rice made accurately reflect our government's initial assessment. bill: my next guest says that defies logic. mike baker former c.i.a. covert operations officer president of diligence l. l. c., an

intelligence form. spontaneous attack, defies logic, what do you mean? >> at first they came out and said look this was the result of the protest. massive protests starting to build up outside the consulate in benghazi and suddenly it turned all violent and nasty. now, you know, they are acknowledging essentially that you know what there wasn't really a protest. maybe a couple of dozen people showed up earlier in the day, and then they dissipated, the attack took place some time later. whether it was preplanned a month ago, whether it was preplanned 12 hours ago, it does seem that the white house has been, or appears to be overly concerned from the get go in establishing a narrative whereby they can't be blamed for it, because it was spontaneous, unavoidable, unpredictable. bill: if that's the case that is political concerns. >> absolutely. bill: you say this whole issue is clouded with political concerns. >> i don't think there is any doubt. i don't see how you really approach this otherwise. but you look at the situation at hand. you look at what we knew, look

at the environment that we knew, and for me i keep beating this somewhat dead horse already, it wasn't so much did they miss evidence of an attack. my five-year-old kid could have figured out with 9/11 being there with benghazi being essentially a war zone with knowing that we had al-qaida associates there, and knowing that the state department's responsible for providing security, it's simple negligence on the part of those inside the state department who have responsibility for securing the personnel and facilities overseas. these decisions should have been taken a year ago and we wouldn't i suspect not be talking about this. bill: they failed to assess the risk properly then in benghazi is what you're leveling. >> absolutely, absolutely. this facility probably should have been conducted from the ground up. we do this all the time in areas where we believe we will have a permanent presence of officials and yet it's in a hostile environment. that wasn't done here. the attackers, i would bet my month's salary and more than

that, and it doesn't amount to much but i would bet it that frank hraoet attacker frankly the attackers had inside information. knowing what operations are like, having done some you conduct surveillance ahead of time. the attackers i guarantee conducted surveillance. they knew the ambassador was there. the pattern of the attack itself, how the white house thinks they can hold this line that it just happened, i don't know, but i suspect that they are desperately thinking that they would like to walk that dog back. bill: what about these reports about warnings given out to the consulate three days in advance? a lot of this was not confirmed but that is what is being talked about in libya now. >> right, typically with investigations, and i would say that no matter what parties in power any time you have a situation like this the key is to keep your yap shut, allow intelligence actually to develop, gather information from the investigation and then start talking. we saw off the osama bin laden raid how everybody rushed to the

podium. we're seeing the similar same thing here, they are coming up with ideas, that this is what happened. bill: blame the film. >> let's blame the film because then we have no responsibility for it and that is a good narrative when you have an election coming two months away. bill: reuters is reporting from northern africa that an al-qaida affiliate in north africa is complimenting the killing of a u.s. ambassador as the best gift you give to an arrogant, unjust government, and they are congratulating our muslim rebel brothers. this gets mixed into the picture as well. do you give credence of a claim of responsibility or not? >> you know, they are very -- any time anything happens they rush to congratulate. ayman ibrahim hassan al-asir al-aswriri was wanting to

revenge the death of the number two in al-qaida. the idea that al-qaida elements are coming out and saying this was a great attack and we should do more of them. none of this happens in a bubble. we like to think, this was an attack it just happened there. for crying out loud the white house is saying that the protests around the middle east are not directed to the u.s. we seem to be misdirected from reality. i don't know if they can get away with this at this point, it's a strange path for them to take. bill: we'll watch it throughout the day. thank you mike, mike baker here in new york. martha: as the middle east similarrers the debate over the administration's policies there are truly heating up on the campaign trail. mike emanuel is live in leesburg, virginia. he had a chance to sit down with undecided voters about issues that matter most to them. mike, what was on their minds? >> martha, all the undecided voters here in virginia, small numbers, everybody is calling this a toss upstate, the number

of undecideds anywhere from 2 to 5 per. those that i have spoken with sound conflicted -d anded and the economy remains a big issue. >> it will play a big role. absolutely are we better off than we were four years ago? i don't know. i personally -- i think i am a little bit to be honest with you but there are a lot of people that don't feel the same way i do so -- >> i want to hear more about the problems, their concerns, how they are going to address them, how they are going to solve them. right now i hear a lot of bantering, the commercials. i'm over the commercials. >> reporter: now if she is sick of those campaign commercials she is not going to be happy with the next seven weeks when we are expecting both campaigns will bombard virginia tv stations with hands trying to make a difference. national security is a huge issue in virginia. you've got the world's largest naval installation in norfolk, you've got a tremendous a amount of the economy based on defense spending and defense

contractors. that is a big issue for many of the folks i've spoken with. we also talked to the governor of virginia about key issues remaining in this race. >> people are very scared, particularly small business people about this president's antibusiness and anti-energy development policies in virginia. i see it with what's happened in the taxes, the regulations, the unfunded mandates on virginia that this administration layers on. i'm thinking more and more that this is what the independent voters are going to look at, and that's why they will break for romney and i think romney wins a close election in virginia. >> reporter: we are here in leesburg, virginia at the leesburg restaurant, a charming town, it's been a huge growth area in virginia and we expect to catch up with a lot of voters over lunch. martha: that looks like that's a pretty good spot you're in there mike. enjoy the day outside of d.c. thanks so much. bill: you we will i have to feel for these folks living in the ten or eleven states that are

hammered with these ads. martha: we don't see them in new york and new jersey. bill: not one of them. martha: we saw them on the road but not here. bill: in ohio i mean they are book ended every time you go to commercial. martha: and that lady stands out who said, you know i want to hear what they are going to do on both sides. what are they actually going to do? she said she is hearing a lot of banter. i think a lot of folks feel that way. bill: how are you liking the new digs by the way. martha: love them. we miss our studio, our studio is getting ready for big things coming this fall. bill: we are getting a big studio set for election night. once that is over we'll go back over there. martha: we're hanging out here. come wave to us. bill: serious story here, 51 nato troops killed this year alone by the people they are trying to help. how did afghanistan get so bad so quickly and what can be done now? we'll look at that. martha: that is a big story. a major development now in the fight over union rights could

bring collective bargaining back to wisconsin, why the attorney general says he will take that fight as far as he has to. >> we think it's really imperative that the love the people through the voice of the governor and legislature be allowed to stand until we have a higher court actually rule on the decision that he has entered. hey, i love your cereal there --

it's got that sweet honey taste. but no way it's 80 calories, right? no way, right? lady, i just drive the truck. right, there's no way right, right? have a nice day. [ male announcer ] 80 delicious calories. fiber one.

bill: there is yet a new legal fight in the legal battle unfolding in wisconsin. it goes on and on. the state attorney general heading to court to stop a that reinstates collective bargaining for public workers. that is what that he call legally deficient. >> the reality is if the courts can find the law to be constitutional, it's their absolute obligation to do so, because that is the love th the will of the people. we are going to weigh our options and that is getting a little bit ahead of ourselves as

well. bill: the attorney general requesting a stay while he appeals the judge's ruling. one major union in madison says it is already making plans for new contract talks. martha: big story today, a spike in deadly attacks by afghans against the nato forces over there training them has put america's involvement there in a whole new light. four u.s. soldiers were killed at a check-point in a province on sunday by afghan police officers who they were training with. just a few days after two u.s. marines were killed in an attack on nato's calm bastion, that base on friday. there are the two sites on the map. that attack, the one on the end there left one soldier dead after insurgents wearing u.s. army uniforms stormed the base, also killed in that attack sergeant bradley atwell. the attack raises serious

questions as to how the situation in afghanistan got to this point. joined by retired major general robert jails. general, welcome good to have you here today. these stories are tragic. and you think about our folks on the ground there, training afghan police officers and military in order to secure their own country, and now they are wearing our uniforms and turning against us, in some cases the taliban are getting aeu a hold oa hold of our uniforms and doing this. >> about a year ago the taliban leadership understood two things, americans will be gone by 2014, and number 2 it's a transition to afghan leadership in the army and the police, and so they made the decision to begin to infiltrate taliban sympathizers into the military and to incite fanatical religious leaders to encourage the afghan soldiers and police

to turn on american advisers, and what you're seeing now is a result of that concerted campaign. and it is extremely important that the u.s. command be able to knit this back together. it's made more difficult by the fact that afghan soldiers and u.s. soldiers are together in platoon sized combat outposts scattered all over afghanistan living right next to each other. the key element here is trust. these attacks have fractured that sense of trust between the afghans and the u.s. and we are seeing the result of that, martha. martha: as you point out this is the cornerstone of creating stability in afghanistan. once that model is gone, when you don't have u.s. soldiers, nato soldiers training alongside their afghan counterparts, when they can't even be in the same room because of security concerns, what is left of the mission? >> well, in addition to that, martha, the clock is ticking. everybody knows 2014 is going to

be the index so the u.s. commandos -pbt have a lot of time to re-establish trust, sort out these evildoers, get them out of the military and police, bring the afghans and americans back together to start conducting sophisticated operations at the company battalion level and get the initiative restarted all within what, a year, year and a half until we are officially gone. martha: there was a loot of criticism of mitt romney for not talking about afghanistan during his speech at the convention. he later did address it. how do you think the commander in chief is doing in terms of communicating to the american people what the mission is at this point, before we leave there in 2014 as you point out, and what is going on? has he addressed these issues to the extent you'd like to see? >> two points. first of all the thing that bothers me most about this is how important this period is. okay we're what, 48 days from an election, but this is a very -- probably the most critical point at the strategic level in our

ability to achieve a stable afghanistan. the second point i'll make to both candidates is that the economy and jobs may determine who is going to be elected, but once the election occurs what happens in afghanistan and what happens in iran, in other words, military affairs and foreign affairs are going to be what defines the next presidency, in my opinion. martha: what would you like to hear from the president about this at this point? >> i want him to ell he will elevate it. this is important, this is a critical time. we have soldiers in afghanistan who are dying daily. it's a very difficult process for the afghan command to sort all this out, to get rid of the evil doers and most importantly to re-establish that trust which is so essential. you've got to put this thing back together. in my opinion at least it is far more important to get this right than it is to say, you know, pick a fight with china which

seems to be the principle foreign policy objective by this administration. martha: so important and so much treasure lost. >> absolutely. martha: we need to finish this if we are going to get out in the right way. we thank you very much, general. it's always good to see you. >> thank you, martha. bill: big issue there too. in a moment here the royal family has won in the battle over topless photos and kate middleton, kind of sort of anyway, cat out of the bag you might say in there is a lot more to this case than just the pictures as you are about to find out. >> yeah, it's diana all over again, really. she's a lovely woman and such a nice person. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso. your soups are so awesomely delicious my husband and i can't stop eating 'em! what's...that... on your head? can curlers! tomato basil, potato with bacon... we've got a lot of empty cans. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

martha: we are back. getting to the final frontier fierce than ever. nasa scientists say they are now in the very early stages, so hold your horses, of developing

a real life warp drive. the potential technology inspired by the poplar television story star trek there, the vehicle that you see there. they say it may be possible because propelling an aircraft might not require as much energy than they originally thought, bill. i'll leave with you that thought. bill: i'm going to hold my horses. martha: good. bill: for now. big legal victory now for the duke and dutchess of came bridge. this morning a french court-ordered the magazine that first printed the topless photos of kate middleton to hand them all over. art that aidala is a fox news legal analyst and former prosecutor and criminal defense attorney. artie how you doing? >> very well. nice to see your nice new digs over there, congratulations. bill: thank you so much. they are temporary. as for you you are not temporary because you are always here. you say it's a hall low victory? >> yeah, come on, i feel so bad for them. they didn't do anything silly or ridiculous, they were in a

family's private villa surrounded by acres of private park area. the judge noted, the french judge noted hundreds of meters away from a public road, and some female photographer with a high-powered lens took these photographs. i'm sure was paid handsome lee for it and now they are published in ireland, the smallette amount of print. france and then of course the italians go with 26 pages. bill: you're saying it's already out, the cat is already out of the bag, that's why it equates to a hollow victory. >> correct. they seem to carry themselves with a lot of class and dignity and elegance and they didn't deserve this. williams' brother was a hreuld wild an was doing wild things so he asked to be put in the public spotlight for his nudity, et cetera. they weren't asking. bill: what about this italian magazine that was going to print 26 pages. >> they did, it's done, it's out. bill: that is already out on the newsstands to buy?

>> yes, correct. don't forget you're talking about many countries here. today's victory only holds true for france. it's only the french magazine has to turn over the photos within 24 hours or get fined $13,000 a day, and if they -- bill: what if somebody in iceland has the photos do you have to start a whole new court case there? >> correct. absolutely it has to do with just diction. it may not be a whole new court case butt inch informants aspect -- in europe, because of the european union there is reciprocation. one country's ruling other countries have to file to a degree. silvio berlusconi company controls all of these magazines. he must be making a lot of money. as big as the royal couple are here, in europe they are that much bigger. bill: do you think this french judge took that into consideration?

>> absolutely. the ruling by the judge is pretty stern, he's very upset. bill: what did he stphaeu. >> he said this is a private, intimate couple between a couple that was totally exploited. he called it grotesque i believe is the word he used about what happened to them. unfortunately as we said from the beginning of this segment they are already out there. you can go on google right now and unfortunately if that's what you choose to do, some of the staff here in fox were he telling me it's very easy to find and that's a bummer. bill: some of the staff. martha: is that what they are doing down there. bill: informing you, and you expect us to buy that, is that right. martha: arthur didn't look for them at all. >> martha you covered the royal wedding, i would never disrespect you and look at the photos of that lovely bride. martha: you have your own subscription to the magazine i guess. >> stop it martha. martha: there are new questions this morning about a leaked video of governor romney

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